DIY GREEK BASIL PESTO

The Greeks love their pesto sauce, especially basil pesto in their pasta. It’s healthy and only consists of a few ingredients easily found in your pantry! Our DIY Greek basil pesto is only made with the highest quality Kardamas Greek extra virgin olive oil. It’s easy to substitute ingredients or make your own variation of this recipe, by adding cheese instead of pecorino or nuts instead of pine seeds. 

Greek basil pesto comes from a classic Italian recipe, also known as Pesto alla Genovese. The only difference to our recipe is we use only Greek products!

Basil Pesto Recipe 

Ingredients                                                  

  • 130 gr. fresh basil leaves

  • 80 gr. pine seeds 

  • 120 ml. Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 40 gr. pecorino cheese (grated)

  • A few drops of fresh lemon juice

  • Salt

  • Pepper

Directions 

Making basil pesto a very easy procedure if you follow the directions correctly. Start by pouring 100ml of your extra virgin olive oil in a blender, then add the fresh basil leaves, pine seeds, lemon juice, pepper and garlic. Leave the salt for after adding the cheese because it might be already salty so you might not need to add salt at all. It’s all up to taste. Mix everything together until smooth. Finally, add the grated Pecorino cheese. Mix everything again, but for 5 seconds maximum this time. Put your finished pesto in a jar and add the rest of the extra virgin olive oil on top. 

Keep in mind that you can replace pine seeds with cashews or any nut. Additionally, you can substitute pecorino cheese with gruyere cheese. But the only ingredient you can’t replace, of course, is the Greek extra virgin olive oil.

Serve with your favorite pasta or be more creative and add a spoonful in soups, on eggs, as a spread on bread etc. Note that you should never ever put basil pesto on heat as this negates all its health benefits. Instead, stir your pasta in a large bowl with 3-4 spoonful’s of basil pesto. Add some pasta water if your pesto is too thick. 

How to Preserve Basil Pesto

Preserving foods in extra virgin olive oil has been a well known procedure among the Mediterranean people since the ancient years. Basil pesto is no different. What you’ll need is extra virgin olive oil of premium quality and small glass jars with lids. Place your pesto in the jars and cover completely with extra virgin olive oil up to the top. Close the lid well and store in the fridge for up to a week. It’s recommended to use smaller jars for each use, so that you won’t have to take out all of your pesto each time.

Extra virgin olive oil creates a seal, isolating the food from air that leads to oxidation and mold. Therefore, it keeps the food longer stored at room temperatures and even longer in the fridge and freezer. Check out our article on preserving food in extra virgin olive oil for all the Do’s and Don’ts. 

Now that you know how to make your own Greek basil pesto and preserve, you can keep it in the freezer for up to 6 months. It’s so easy to make and store, you should definitely stock up!

Don’t forget to visit our shop for premium quality Greek extra virgin olive oil!

Greek Olive Oil, RecipesKate Gerextra virgin olive oil, basil pesto